


where your heart is free

by SkyRose



Series: Ladies Bingo 2019 [4]
Category: Barbie - All Media Types, Barbie and the Magic of Pegasus (2005), Barbie in the 12 Dancing Princesses (2006)
Genre: Crossover, F/F, Fairy Tale Curses, Fluff, Getting to Know Each Other, Horseback Riding
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-16
Updated: 2019-12-16
Packaged: 2021-02-26 23:00:13
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,308
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21816772
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SkyRose/pseuds/SkyRose
Summary: Blair meets a lonely girl in the forest. She's the perfect distraction as a dreaded arranged marriage approaches.
Relationships: Blair (Barbie in the 12 Dancing Princesses)/Brietta (Barbie and the Magic of Pegasus)
Series: Ladies Bingo 2019 [4]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1564741
Comments: 6
Kudos: 29
Collections: Ladies Bingo 2019, SkyRose's Barbie Movie Femslash





	where your heart is free

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [A Horse and Her Girl](https://archiveofourown.org/works/19152346) by [SpiltSoup](https://archiveofourown.org/users/SpiltSoup/pseuds/SpiltSoup). 



> For my square "Isolation/Loneliness" on my ladies bingo card. I promise this is light-hearted despite the prompt. Also for "freedom" on my shippy building cancer table.
> 
> I've been wanting to write these two since I read ColorlessPalette's first fic of them. If you're itching for more Blair/Brietta, head over to their fics!

Blair rode when she could. It wasn’t often. She wasn’t the eldest, but she nearly was so she held plenty of responsibility around the castle. Ashlyn got the first of it but she was a natural leader, she’d be a good queen one day. A great queen, even, on days when Blair wasn’t upset with her.

This was no such day.

“I haven’t left the castle in a week, Ash!” Blair shouted at her sister. “I need a break!”

“You should have thought of that before you let Hadley and Isla go out in the rain!” Ashlyn argued, blue eyes glaring down at Blair. “You’re the reason they’re sick.”

“For the record, I told them to wear their cloaks,” Blair huffed. “And I’ll be back before dinner, I swear! Surely a maid can look after them for the afternoon.”

Ashlyn sighed. “I’m sorry, Blair, I really am, but I can’t watch everyone on my own. The staff is far too busy preparing for the arrival of the Duke.”

Blair could feel her blood boil at the mention of the Duke. Delia and Edeline had overheard their father’s plans to marry off Blair to the Duke’s son. Blair was outraged and had confronted their father, only to find he had already promised Blair’s hand in marriage and nothing could be done. It was over a silly trade dispute. Blair would marry a bland, eggheaded man because of a trade dispute!

“Oh, of course!” Blair shouted, her voice not directed at her sister but rather the cursed universe. “I can’t go out riding because of the  _ Duke.” _

“Blair—”

“Well, I don’t  _ care _ about the Duke or his son! I’m going out today and no one can stop me!” Blair said in a rush as she hurried past her sister.

“Blair!” Ashlyn repeated, her voice more forceful. “Get back here right now! You won’t be riding again for a month if you leave! Blair! Blair!”

Blair barely registered the words. She was on a mission towards the stables. Nothing would stop her.

\---

Blair couldn’t go down her usual path. The knights would know to look for her there. She knew Ashlyn would send them after her. So instead of the riverside path, she went down the path less traveled, one that cut deep into the forest that bordered the nearest neighboring kingdom.

On her horse, Blair felt free. Her life had become so suffocating, her sisters getting on her nerves and her father deciding her future without any chance to put her own word in. 

Blair took a wrong turn, or at least an unfamiliar turn. It led to a clearing she’d never seen before, with a small pond at its center. A spot to rest. Blair climbed down, allowing her horse to drink the clear water as she took in the sight around her.

That was when she spotted a girl lying on the opposite side of the pond. Her eyes were closed and her dress torn. Blair’s heart leapt at the sight and she rushed over to see if the girl was okay.

“Hello?” Blair asked as she leaned over the girl. She seemed to be Blair’s age. Her chest rose and fell, so she was alive.

The girl’s eyes fluttered open. “Oh my!” she gasped.

\---

Her name was Brietta and she had a tale unlike anything Blair had ever heard, including the storybooks her mother used to read before bed.

“A wizard cursed me,” she explained, after introducing herself as the eldest princess of the neighboring kingdom in the mountains. “I have been alone in this forest ever since.”

“But why?”

Brietta frowned. “It would be easier if I showed you.”

After securing her horse to a tree, Blair followed Brietta. She was led down a path different from the one she arrived on. It was short, leading to the edge of the forest and to the main road into the mountains.

Brietta paused before she stepped out of the forest. Blinding light surrounded her, and suddenly there was no auburn-haired girl in a pink dress. A purple pegasus stood in front of Blair.

“Brietta?” Blair asked, eyes wide as she stared at the mythical creature.

“I’m here, it’s me,” Brietta said, the voice coming out of the pegasus.

“Woah.”

\---

“So this is the only place where the curse is reversed?” Blair asked as they made their way back into the forest.

“To my knowledge,” Brietta confirmed.

Blair hesitated before prompting, “How long have you been here?”

Brietta sighed. “I don’t know, truthfully. The magic of the forest prevents the changing of the seasons.”

“It… must get lonely.”

Brietta nodded. “My family is unaware of my whereabouts. I couldn’t bear to… Oh, but I miss them! My younger sister especially.”

Blair’s stomach twisted as she was reminded of her own sisters. The sun was beginning to set. She needed to get home, but…

“I’ll be back tomorrow,” Blair promised when they returned to the pond.

Brietta smiled. “Thank you. It is nice having company.”

\---

Ashlyn prevented Blair from leaving the next day, but Blair managed to sneak out the next. She urged her horse, riding fast and hard into the forest.

“I am so sorry,” Blair said once she arrived at the pond. “My family… Ah, it doesn’t matter. I brought you sweets.”

Brietta took the offered sweets graciously. “Tell me about your family. Tell me everything. I want to hear it!”

As Brietta devoured all the food Blair had brought, Blair told the names of each of her sisters. Blair couldn’t help but smile as she thought of fond memories spent with each of them.

_ “Courtney’s bookish, but I drag out of the library when I can.” _

_ “Genevieve’s the best dancer and she’s got a huge crush on the shoemaker.” _

_ “It was miserable when the triplets were younger, one of them was always crying.” _

By the end of Blair’s tales, the sun was setting again.

“I’ll be back soon,” Blair promised before she pulled Brietta into a hug. “With more food, too.”

“And more stories,” Brietta requested.

\---

“You… want books?” Courtney repeated, too dumbstruck then she had the right to be. Blair used to read, when she was younger.

“Just some light reading,” Blair clarified. “With pictures, preferably.”

Courtney stared silently at her older sister before finally replying, “Okay…” She placed a few books into Blair’s hand. “These are good, not my favorites but I think you’ll like them.”

Blair glanced at the titles, finding them satisfactory. “Thanks, Courtney! You’re a lifesaver.”

“Right…” 

\---

Brietta enjoyed the books, and even more so the food. 

“Why do you keep coming here?” Brietta asked as Blair closed the last book.

Blair thought for a moment. “I don’t get to spend much time with people who aren’t my sisters. And it’s relaxing here. Plus, you deserve the company.”

“Every time you leave, I think it’s the last I’ll see you. And yet you come back,” Brietta confessed as a smile bloomed on her face. 

“Of course,” Blair said as she packed up the books. “And I’ll be back again soon.”

“I’ll miss you every second you’re gone,” Brietta said as Blair hopped onto her horse’s back.

Blair’s chest panged in the way it did whenever her mother read stories of princes and princesses falling in love. She rode through the forest with the wind in her raven hair and her lips stretched into a grin.

\---

“You want more books?” Courtney asked in disbelief. “You read them all?”

“Yes!” Blair declared. 

“Why?” Courtney questioned. 

“Huh?”

“Why read so much in a day?”

The question flustered Blair. “Well, uh, I thought it best to… read some… before the Duke and his son arrive.”

“Oh,” Courtney stated. “So you’re taking the engagement seriously now? I thought Father was going to have to drag you down the aisle.”

“Yes, I’m taking it seriously,” Blair lied confidently. “He’s more bookish than you, from what I’ve heard. So I need more to read, please.”

Courtney handed over another pile without any more questions, to Blair’s relief.

\---

Brietta and Blair were laid side by side in the grass, the books discarded a while ago. They were boring, so they decided to stare up at the clouds and chat idly.

“You should bring one of your sisters,” Brietta said suddenly.

Blair winced. “I don’t think that’s a good idea.”

Brietta turned to look at Blair. “Why not?”

“It’s… well, I wouldn’t want my father to know… Ah, you see… Ashlyn would ban me from the stables for a month if she knew—”

“You’d get in trouble?”

“Maybe,” Blair said. “Probably. I’m supposed to be preparing for my marriage.”

Brietta was shocked by the admission. “You’re engaged?”

Blair nodded. “It’s not… The circumstances aren’t romantic. I haven’t even met him yet. He’s visiting soon and I’m dreading it.”

Brietta hummed. “The wizard… he wanted me to marry him. I refused. I knew when I married, if I married, it would be to someone I truly loved. He cursed me for refusing.”

It was the first time Brietta had mentioned the wizard since the day Blair had met her. Blair never pried, she knew it must be a sensitive subjective. “That’s awful… It was brave of you to refuse.”

“You could too,” Brietta replied, her expression serious. “If you don’t want to marry that man, then do not. It is that simple.”

“But—”

“Your father can work something else out,” Brietta cut off before she joked, “Or you could just run away to the woods to live with me.”

Blair did not voice how appealing the latter sounded.

\---

“You lied to me!” Courtney accused as Blair entered the bedroom that night. “Fallon saw you at the stables. You rode somewhere with those books I gave you.”

Blair looked around to see if any of their sisters were paying any attention to their conversation. None were. “I like to read outdoors.”

“That’s ridiculous! I should have known you were lying! You disappear every afternoon! You’re hiding something!” Courtney wagged a finger in front of Blair. 

Blair pushed her sister’s hand away. “Relax, Courtney. You’re making a big deal out of nothing.”

Courtney’s eyes narrowed. “Oh really? Then tell me where you’re going!”

Blair was cornered. “It would be… easier if I showed you.”

Courtney raised an eyebrow. “What?”

In a hushed voice, Blair instructed, “Meet me at the stable tomorrow, after lunch. Don’t tell anyone, okay?”

“Blair—”

“Promise you won’t tell anyone.”

Courtney sighed. “Fine. I promise.”

Blair smiled. It was a win-win. She’d have Courtney off her back and Brietta would get to meet one of her sisters.

\---

Brietta was so happy to meet Courtney. So happy that she kissed Blair’s cheek as a  _ thank you. _

Courtney gave her a knowing smile as Blair’s pale skin flushed.

\---

“So she turns into a pegasus when she leaves the forest?” Courtney questioned as they rode back to the castle.

“Yes,” Blair answered. 

“And what breaks the spell?”

Blair froze at the questioned. “What?”

“How is she supposed to break the curse?” 

Blair squinted up at the clouds overhead. “I… don’t know! I never asked!”

Courtney smiled. “I bet it’s true love’s kiss.”

Blair turned to meet her sister’s gaze. “Why?”

“It almost always is,” Courtney replied, her voice approaching a teasing tone. “Trust me, I’ve read every single fairytale.”

Blair ignored her sister’s words. She resisted the urge to turn her horse around and test Courtney’s theory.

\---

Blair paced around the bedroom, which was thankfully empty. It had been a few days since she had been able to sneak out to visit Brietta. The Duke and his son had arrived. Blair’s betrothed was as loathsome as she feared.

To be fair, he wasn’t awful. They just didn’t have much chemistry or common interests. And all Blair could think about was lonely Brietta among the trees.

Blair was meant to attend a dinner where the engagement would be officially announced to the kingdom but… she felt dizzy. And ill. Very, very ill.

“Blair,” a voice said, interrupting Blair’s thoughts. Blair spun around to find Courtney standing in the doorway.

“Hi…” Blair greeted awkwardly.

Courtney approached Blair with a shy smile. “I’ve been thinking… I should be the one to marry the Duke’s son, not you.”

Blair gaped at her younger sister. “I could never ask—”

“I know, I know,” Courtney said with a wave of her hand. “You don’t need to. I’m offering. He seems more my type anyway, and you have Brietta.”

Blair could feel tears prickle in her eyes. “You would do that… for me?”

“For you and Brietta,” Courtney confirmed. Blair hugged her sister and whispered countless  _ thank you’s _ into her hair. When they pulled away, Courtney’s eyes twinkled as she said, “Go break that curse.”

\---

Brietta’s eyes widened when Blair entered the clearing. “Blair? I thought you said—”

“I know what I said,” Blair interrupted with a grin as she climbed off her horse. “Plans change.”

Brietta watched Blair with a curious glint in her blue eyes. “Even marriage plans?”

Blair hummed and nodded. She placed a hand on Brietta’s waist. “There’s someone else I want to spend my life with.”

Brietta cupped Blair’s face. “Even if she’s stuck in a forest?”

Blair swallowed down her nerves. “If my smartest sister is correct, I know the solution.” With that, she leaned into Brietta and their lips met. Warmth spread throughout Blair’s body, overwhelming the evening’s chill. Her hands and lips tingled where they touched Brietta. When Blair opened her eyes and stepped back, she found Brietta was in a dazzling new dress and a tiara was atop her head.

Brietta stared down at the glittery pink dress. “You broke the curse!” she gasped and tugged Blair into another kiss.

\---

Blair and Brietta rode together out of the forest, holding hands, laughing, and feeling free for once in a long time.

**Author's Note:**

> Kudos and comments appreciated! <3
> 
> I kinda want to do a crossover femslash fic with all the sisters from 12 dancing princesses. I've done Ashlyn/Anneliese and now Blair/Brietta. I was thinking Courtney/Luciana from Island Princess next, since they both like reading and seem reserved. Feel free to leave suggestions in the comments!


End file.
